I have a weed growing on my property (eastern washington state) that looks like pot. Five sawtoothed leaves. I can't help but think that it cannot be.... anybody have guesses as to what it is?

On a similar note, I have some stuff growing that looks like ferns. I thought it was too cold here for ferns. A farmer told me that if a horse eats this stuff it'll kill him. Any guesses?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 06, 2001

Answers

Paul, In Michigan we have all sorts of ferns in the woods. I have a horse in the woods and she is still alive. Don't know if she has ever eaten it. Do you know the smell of pot burning??? We have several plants with sawtoothed leaves that are not pot. I am trying to remember the name of the most common one but it eludes me. Pot burning is an unforgettable smell, burn some???

-- diane (gardiacaprine@yahoo.com), June 06, 2001.

Okra is sometime mistaken for pot, or so the local sherrifs air survalance officers tell me and they also that tea placed in a spoon and then heated with a candle smells just like pot.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), June 06, 2001.

hemp has been a rather common "weed" in the midwest at least since after WW2 when the govt. paid farmers to grow it. There wer quite a number of large hemp plantings all through the midwest during the war and ditchweed is still a comon sight. Hemp seeds are not difficult to grow and I have noticed more than one plant growing wild in areas that had been known to harbor former smokers. It could be just what you think it is.

-- ray s (mmoetc@yahoo.com), June 06, 2001.

Can't help with your first description, but could your second plant be common yarrow? We have it in our back horse pasture. The horses leave it alone, guess it tastes bitter.

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), June 06, 2001.

I know what yarrow looks like: fuzzy. This stuff definitely has leaves.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 06, 2001.

You didn't mention how tall the plants were. Quite a few plants somewhat resemble marijuana but none of them grow to the height it does. Most hemp plants won't have too many leaves on them until they reach a foot or more in height. Most also usually have more than 5 points on the leaves. 7 is more average though I've seen as many as 11. A healthy plant will grow to over 1 foot in a month and reach heights of 4-12feet. A healthy mature leaf will can be as big as your hand. It's very rare to find hemp growing wild anymore, if it is hemp, it's much more likely that someone purposely planted it.

-- April (atobias@yahoo.com), June 06, 2001.

The fernlike plant could be a bracken which according to the Merck Manual is poisonous to animals even when in the dried form in hay. The disease can appear two or more weeks after ingesting. Hope this helps. Rita

-- Rita in Tn (felfoot @twlakes.net), June 06, 2001.

Is the stuff that looks like ferns tall? Look like overgrown Queen Anns Lace? And if it starts blooming with small umbrels of white flowers, it is hemlock or water hemlock, one of the most deadly poisonous plants on Earth! Be very careful when removing it, wear stout gloves, if you get some of the juice of the plant in an open cut, you can die, and quickly too! Very poisonous!!! A single small frond of foilage can kill a horse, a goat, a cow, and a human, within 30 minutes or less, if ingested.

As an interesting side note, hemlock is what killed Euell Gibbons, of GrapeNuts fame, and he should have known better!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), June 06, 2001.

If it even resembles Marajuana call your county Sheriff and ask them to come out to check whether or not it is. If not, just an embarassment. If so, may keep your property from being confiscated if it is, they find it themselves and they think they can prove you were growing it. Seizure laws have really tightened up in recent years, but still nothing to fool around with.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), June 06, 2001.

One cute little trick pulled around my parts is planting pot on other people's property. The land owner gets stuck with the problem if its found. If all grows well they come back in the fall and harvest!! Call the sheriff. Best be careful! One thing also is a growing pot plant has a slight skunk smell......Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), June 06, 2001.

It grow wild here .From what I am told you will only get in trouble if caught harvesting it .But that is here .I would check with the police.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), June 06, 2001.

And here in the south Mulberry. Recently on the news a gal was thrown to the ground, handcuffed behind her back (any of us large busted gals could sympathize with that!) in front of all her neighbors. Her place was searched, illegal search warrant, and it was wild mulberries!! I am fairly certain we haven't heard the last of this story! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 06, 2001.

I wouldn't recommend calling law enforcement for that if you aren't well acquainted with them. Take care of it yourself. You could possibly open up a big can of worms otherwise. Some jurisdictions seem to just be looking for someones place to snatch up and buy some fancy new gear with the proceeds. If you need to be concerned about it, get rid of it like you would any other weed. If it's more than one, take notice if they were planted there intentionally, they probably were. If so, you better keep your eyes open and the shotgun handy lest they get you in a bunch of trouble.

-- April (atobias@yahoo.com), June 07, 2001.

There is a very common weed that looks just like marijuana, but is not. If this stuff is just volunteering wherever, and is showing up randomly, my guess is that it's not pot. I don't know what the weed is called, but it's all over the place at my farm. Did Euell Gibbons really die from hemlock? Never heard that before.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), June 07, 2001.

I found some pictures on the internet of hemlock and that isn't it.

Bracken seems to be the most likely candidate so far.

The only difference is that bracken looks like a normal fern. My stuff looks a little different - the frond tips are curled.

My hemp-like stuff has five leaves instead of the seven in hemp. So I would guess that it isn't hemp. Maybe a close relation. If anybody has any guesses, I would like to find it on the internet to learn how I might go about getting rid of it.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 07, 2001.

Another forum reader sent me e-mail which may get me on the right track for the hemp-like plant: cinquefoil. I've found some pictures that come close to what I have. Closer than the hemp. I'll keep looking ...

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 07, 2001.

I live in the same general are, what you are seeing is most likely cinquefoil. It should flower before long, I believe it has yellow flowers. The ferns are bracken. And if I were you ,I would NOT call the gov't to come and see if the cinquefoil is pot. That is just begging for trouble. Much smarter option would be to take a specimen into the county extension agent or local forest service.

-- Chamoisee (chamoisee@yahoo.com), June 07, 2001.

Some ragweeds look a lot like pot, or so I've been told. Could be that.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), June 08, 2001.

For the pot-lookalike -- dry it un the sun, and burn it, and see if it smells like marijuana. And if you are unfamiliar with the smell, get a high school kid to consult for you.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), June 09, 2001.

No, Euell Gibbons didn't die of Hemlock, that was a rumor that got circulated around by people who were disparaging of him. He had been sick for many years with various problems, but he didn't mention much of it to his reading public.

Wild elderberries have also been mistaken for hemp, rough cinquefoil,and a common ditchweed are often mistaken for it. I don't know what the ditchweed is, it's all over southern Wisconsin, even along the interstate. It looks like it at a casual glance, but on closer inspection it is something else.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), June 10, 2001.

In Colo. we have Stinging Nettle that looks just like hemp when young.

-- Polly R. Bryant (Radean@webtv.net), June 13, 2001.